Coarse phase estimation for highly-spectrally-efficient communications

ABSTRACT

Methods and systems are provided for coarse phase estimation for highly-spectrally efficient communications. An example method may include, equalizing, in a receiver, a received inter-symbol correlated (ISC) signal to generate an equalized ISC signal. A phase adjustment signal may be generated based on an ISC feedback signal. The ISC feedback signal may be generated using a sequence estimation process and a non-linearity function. A phase of the equalized ISC signal may be adjusted using the generated phase adjustment signal, to generate a phase adjusted partial response signal. The phase adjustment signal may be generated based on a phase difference between the equalized ISC signal and the partial response feedback signal. At least one ISC vector may be generated by buffering samples of the phase adjusted ISC signal.

CLAIM OF PRIORITY

This patent application makes reference to, claims priority to andclaims benefit from:

-   U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 61/662,085 entitled    “Apparatus and Method for Efficient Utilization of Bandwidth” and    filed on Jun. 20, 2012;-   U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 61/726,099 entitled    “Modulation Scheme Based on Partial Response” and filed on Nov. 14,    2012;-   U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 61/729,774 entitled    “Modulation Scheme Based on Partial Response” and filed on Nov. 26,    2012; and-   U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 61/747,132 entitled    “Modulation Scheme Based on Partial Response” and filed on Dec. 28,    2012.

Each of the above stated applications is hereby incorporated herein byreference in its entirety.

INCORPORATION BY REFERENCE

This patent application also makes reference to:

-   U.S. patent application Ser. No.: 13/754,964, titled    “Low-Complexity, Highly-Spectrally-Efficient Communications,” and    filed on the same date as this application;-   U.S. patent application Ser. No.: 13/754,998, titled “Design and    Optimization of Partial Response Pulse Shape Filter,” and filed on    the same date as this application;-   U.S. patent application Ser. No.: 13/755,001, titled “Constellation    Map Optimization For Highly Spectrally Efficient Communications,”    and filed on the same date as this application;-   U.S. patent application Ser. No.: 13/755,008, titled “Dynamic Filter    Adjustment for Highly-Spectrally-Efficient Communications,” and    filed on the same date as this application;-   U.S. patent application Ser. No.: 13/755,011, titled “Timing    Synchronization for Reception of Highly-Spectrally-Efficient    Communications,” and filed on the same date as this application;-   U.S. patent application Ser. No.: 13/755,018, titled “Feed Forward    Equalization for Highly-Spectrally-Efficient Communications,” and    filed on the same date as this application;-   U.S. patent application Ser. No.: 13/755,021, titled “Decision    Feedback Equalizer for Highly-Spectrally-Efficient Communications,”    and filed on the same date as this application;-   U.S. patent application Ser. No.: 13/755,025, titled “Decision    Feedback Equalizer with Multiple Cores for    Highly-Spectrally-Efficient Communications,” and filed on the same    date as this application;-   U.S. patent application Ser. No.: 13/755,026, titled “Decision    Feedback Equalizer Utilizing Symbol Error Rate Biased Adaptation    Function for Highly-Spectrally-Efficient Communications,” and filed    on the same date as this application;-   U.S. patent application Ser. No.: 13/755,039, titled “Fine Phase    Estimation for Highly Spectrally Efficient Communications,” and    filed on the same date as this application; and-   U.S. patent application Ser. No.: 13/755,043, titled “Joint Sequence    Estimation of Symbol and Phase with High Tolerance of Nonlinearity,”    and filed on the same date as this application.

Each of the above stated applications is hereby incorporated herein byreference in its entirety.

TECHNICAL FIELD

Aspects of the present application relate to electronic communications.

BACKGROUND

Existing communications methods and systems are overly power hungryand/or spectrally inefficient. Further limitations and disadvantages ofconventional and traditional approaches will become apparent to one ofskill in the art, through comparison of such approaches with someaspects of the present method and system set forth in the remainder ofthis disclosure with reference to the drawings.

BRIEF SUMMARY

Methods and systems are provided for coarse phase estimation forhighly-spectrally-efficient communications, substantially as illustratedby and/or described in connection with at least one of the figures, asset forth more completely in the claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram depicting an example system configured forlow-complexity, highly-spectrally-efficient communications.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram depicting an example equalization and sequenceestimation circuit for use in a system configured for low-complexity,highly-spectrally-efficient communications.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram depicting an example sequence estimationcircuit for use in a system configured for low-complexity,highly-spectrally-efficient communications.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating an example carrier recoverycircuit for use in a system configured for low-complexity,highly-spectrally-efficient communications.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram illustrating an example phase detectorcircuit, which may be used during carrier recovery in a systemconfigured for low-complexity, highly-spectrally-efficientcommunications.

FIG. 6 is a flow diagram of an example method for signal processing in areceiver for use in a system configured for low-complexity,highly-spectrally-efficient communications.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

As utilized herein the terms “circuits” and “circuitry” refer tophysical electronic components (i.e. hardware) and any software and/orfirmware (“code”) which may configure the hardware, be executed by thehardware, and or otherwise be associated with the hardware. As usedherein, for example, a particular processor and memory may comprise afirst “circuit” when executing a first one or more lines of code and maycomprise a second “circuit” when executing a second one or more lines ofcode. As utilized herein, “and/or” means any one or more of the items inthe list joined by “and/or”. As an example, “x and/or y” means anyelement of the three-element set {(x), (y), (x, y)}. As another example,“x, y, and/or z” means any element of the seven-element set {(x), (y),(z), (x, y), (x, z), (y, z), (x, y, z)}. As utilized herein, the term“exemplary” means serving as a non-limiting example, instance, orillustration. As utilized herein, the terms “e.g.,” and “for example”set off lists of one or more non-limiting examples, instances, orillustrations. As utilized herein, circuitry is “operable” to perform afunction whenever the circuitry comprises the necessary hardware andcode (if any is necessary) to perform the function, regardless ofwhether performance of the function is disabled, or not enabled, by someuser-configurable setting.

As referenced herein, if one or more parameters may be set“dynamically”, it means that, in an example implementation, theparameters may be configured during run-time of a transmitter and/orreceiver (e.g., in, or near, real-time) based, for example, on recentlyreceived signals and/or signals currently being received.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram depicting an example system configured forlow-complexity, highly-spectrally-efficient communications. The system100 comprises a mapper circuit 102, a pulse shaping filter circuit 104,a timing pilot insertion circuit 105, a transmitter front-end circuit106, a channel 107, a receiver front-end 108, a filter circuit 109, atiming pilot removal circuit 110, an equalization and sequenceestimation circuit 112, and a de-mapping circuit 114. The components102, 104, 105, and 106 may be part of a transmitter (e.g., a basestation or access point, a router, a gateway, a mobile device, a server,a computer, a computer peripheral device, a table, a modem, a set-topbox, etc.), the components 108, 109, 110, 112, and 114 may be part of areceiver (e.g., a base station or access point, a router, a gateway, amobile device, a server, a computer, a computer peripheral device, atable, a modem, a set-top box, etc.), and the transmitter and receivermay communicate via the channel 107.

The mapper 102 may be operable to map bits of the Tx_bitstream to betransmitted to symbols according to a selected modulation scheme. Thesymbols may be output via signal 103. For example, for an quadratureamplitude modulation scheme having a symbol alphabet of N (N-QAM), themapper may map each Log₂(N) bits of the Tx_bitstream to single symbolrepresented as a complex number and/or as in-phase (I) andquadrature-phase (Q) components. Although N-QAM is used for illustrationin this disclosure, aspects of this disclosure are applicable to anymodulation scheme (e.g., amplitude shift keying (ASK), phase shiftkeying (PSK), frequency shift keying (FSK), etc.). Additionally, pointsof the N-QAM constellation may be regularly spaced (“on-grid”) orirregularly spaced (“off-grid”). Furthermore, the symbol constellationused by the mapper may be optimized for best bit-error rate performancethat is related to log-likelihood ratio (LLR) and to optimizing meanmutual information bit (MMIB). The Tx_bitstream may, for example, be theresult of bits of data passing through a forward error correction (FEC)encoder and/or an interleaver. Additionally, or alternatively, thesymbols out of the mapper 102 may pass through an interleaver.

The pulse shaper 104 may be operable to adjust the waveform of thesignal 103 such that the waveform of the resulting signal 113 complieswith the spectral requirements of the channel over which the signal 113is to be transmitted. The spectral requirements may be referred to asthe “spectral mask” and may be established by a regulatory body (e.g.,the Federal Communications Commission in the United States or theEuropean Telecommunications Standards Institute) and/or a standards body(e.g., Third Generation Partnership Project) that governs thecommunication channel(s) and/or standard(s) in use. The pulse shaper 104may comprise, for example, an infinite impulse response (IIR) and/or afinite impulse response (FIR) filter. The number of taps, or “length,”of the pulse shaper 104 is denoted herein as LTx, which is an integer.The impulse response of the pulse shaper 104 is denoted herein as hTx.The pulse shaper 104 may be configured such that its output signal 113intentionally has a substantial amount of inter-symbol interference(ISI). Accordingly, the pulse shaper 104 may be referred to as a partialresponse pulse shaping filter, and the signal 113 may be referred to asa partial response signal or as residing in the partial response domain,whereas the signal 103 may be referred to as residing in the symboldomain. The number of taps and/or the values of the tap coefficients ofthe pulse shaper 104 may be designed such that the pulse shaper 104 isintentionally non-optimal for additive white Gaussian noise (AWGN) inorder to improve tolerance of non-linearity in the signal path. In thisregard, the pulse shaper 104 may offer superior performance in thepresence of non-linearity as compared to, for example, a conventionalnear zero positive ISI pulse shaping filter (e.g., root raised cosine(RRC) pulse shaping filter). The pulse shaper 104 may be designed asdescribed in one or more of: the United States patent application titled“Design and Optimization of Partial Response Pulse Shape Filter,” theUnited States patent application titled “Constellation Map OptimizationFor Highly Spectrally Efficient Communications,” and the United Statespatent application titled “Dynamic Filter Adjustment ForHighly-Spectrally-Efficient Communications,” each of which isincorporated herein by reference, as set forth above.

It should be noted that a partial response signal (or signals in the“partial response domain”) is just one example of a type of signal forwhich there is correlation among symbols of the signal (referred toherein as “inter-symbol-correlated (ISC) signals”). Such ISC signals arein contrast to zero (or near-zero) ISI signals generated by, forexample, raised-cosine (RC) or root-raised-cosine (RRC) filtering. Forsimplicity of illustration, this disclosure focuses on partial responsesignals generated via partial response filtering. Nevertheless, aspectsof this disclosure are applicable to other ISC signals such as, forexample, signals generated via matrix multiplication (e.g., latticecoding), and signals generated via decimation below the Nyquistfrequency such that aliasing creates correlation between symbols.

The timing pilot insertion circuit 105 may insert a pilot signal whichmay be utilized by the receiver for timing synchronization. The outputsignal 115 of the timing pilot insertion circuit 105 may thus comprisethe signal 113 plus an inserted pilot signal (e.g., a sine wave at¼×fbaud, where fbaud is the symbol rate). An example implementation ofthe pilot insertion circuit 105 is described in the United States patentapplication titled “Timing Synchronization for Reception ofHighly-Spectrally-Efficient Communications,” which is incorporatedherein by reference, as set forth above.

The transmitter front-end 106 may be operable to amplify and/orupconvert the signal 115 to generate the signal 116. Thus, thetransmitter front-end 106 may comprise, for example, a power amplifierand/or a mixer. The front-end may introduce non-linear distortion and/orphase noise (and/or other non-idealities) to the signal 116. Thenon-linearity of the circuit 106 may be represented as FnlTx which maybe, for example, a polynomial, or an exponential (e.g., Rapp model). Thenon-linearity may incorporate memory (e.g., Voltera series).

The channel 107 may comprise a wired, wireless, and/or opticalcommunication medium. The signal 116 may propagate through the channel107 and arrive at the receive front-end 108 as signal 118. Signal 118may be noisier than signal 116 (e.g., as a result of thermal noise inthe channel) and may have higher or different ISI than signal 116 (e.g.,as a result of multi-path).

The receiver front-end 108 may be operable to amplify and/or downconvertthe signal 118 to generate the signal 119. Thus, the receiver front-endmay comprise, for example, a low-noise amplifier and/or a mixer. Thereceiver front-end may introduce non-linear distortion and/or phasenoise to the signal 119. The non-linearity of the circuit 108 may berepresented as FnlRx which may be, for example, a polynomial, or anexponential (e.g., Rapp model). The non-linearity may incorporate memory(e.g., Voltera series).

The timing pilot recovery and removal circuit 110 may be operable tolock to the timing pilot signal inserted by the pilot insertion circuit105 in order to recover the symbol timing of the received signal. Theoutput 122 may thus comprise the signal 120 minus (i.e., without) thetiming pilot signal. An example implementation of the timing pilotrecovery and removal circuit 110 is described in the United Statespatent application titled “Timing Synchronization for Reception ofHighly-Spectrally-Efficient Communications,” which is incorporatedherein by reference, as set forth above.

The input filter 109 may be operable to adjust the waveform of thepartial response signal 119 to generate partial response signal 120. Theinput filter 109 may comprise, for example, an infinite impulse response(IIR) and/or a finite impulse response (FIR) filter. The number of taps,or “length,” of the input filter 109 is denoted herein as LRx, aninteger. The impulse response of the input filter 109 is denoted hereinas hRx. The number of taps, and/or tap coefficients of the input filter109 may be configured based on: a non-linearity model,

, signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of signal 120, the number of taps and/ortap coefficients of the Tx partial response filter 104, and/or otherparameters. The number of taps and/or the values of the tap coefficientsof the input filter 109 may be configured such that noise rejection isintentionally compromised (relative to a perfect match filter) in orderto improve performance in the presence of non-linearity. As a result,the input filter 109 may offer superior performance in the presence ofnon-linearity as compared to, for example, a conventional near zeropositive ISI matching filter (e.g., root raised cosine (RRC) matchedfilter). The input filter 109 may be designed as described in one ormore of: the United States patent application titled “Design andOptimization of Partial Response Pulse Shape Filter,” the United Statespatent application titled “Constellation Map Optimization For HighlySpectrally Efficient Communications,” and the United States patentapplication titled “Dynamic Filter Adjustment ForHighly-Spectrally-Efficient Communications,” each of which isincorporated herein by reference, as set forth above.

As utilized herein, the “total partial response (h)” may be equal to theconvolution of hTx and hRx, and, thus, the “total partial responselength (L)” may be equal to LTx+LRx−1. L may, however, be chosen to beless than LTx+LRx−1 where, for example, one or more taps of the Tx pulseshaper 104 and/or the Rx input filter 109 are below a determined level.Reducing L may reduce decoding complexity of the sequence estimation.This tradeoff may be optimized during the design of the system 100.

The equalizer and sequence estimator 112 may be operable to perform anequalization process and a sequence estimation process. Details of anexample implementation of the equalizer and sequence estimator 112 aredescribed below with respect to FIG. 2. The output signal 132 of theequalizer and sequence estimator 112 may be in the symbol domain and maycarry estimated values of corresponding transmitted symbols (and/orestimated values of the corresponding transmitted information bits ofthe Tx_bitstream) of signal 103. Although not depicted, the signal 132may pass through an interleaver en route to the de-mapper 114. Theestimated values may comprise soft-decision estimates, hard-decisionestimates, or both.

The de-mapper 114 may be operable to map symbols to bit sequencesaccording to a selected modulation scheme. For example, for an N-QAMmodulation scheme, the mapper may map each symbol to Log₂(N) bits of theRx_bitstream. The Rx_bitstream may, for example, be output to ade-interleaver and/or an FEC decoder. Alternatively, or additionally,the de-mapper 114 may generate a soft output for each bit, referred asLLR (Log-Likelihood Ratio). The soft output bits may be used by asoft-decoding forward error corrector (e.g. a low-density parity check(LDPC) decoder). The soft output bits may be generated using, forexample, a Soft Output Viterbi Algorithm (SOVA) or similar. Suchalgorithms may use additional information of the sequence decodingprocess including metrics levels of dropped paths and/or estimated bitprobabilities for generating the LLR, where

${{{LLR}(b)} = {\log\left( \frac{P_{b}}{1 - P_{b}} \right)}},$where P_(b) is the probability that bit b=1.

In an example implementation, components of the system upstream of thepulse shaper 104 in the transmitter and downstream of the equalizer andsequence estimator 112 in the receiver may be as found in a conventionalN-QAM system. Thus, through modification of the transmit side physicallayer and the receive side physical layer, aspects of the invention maybe implemented in an otherwise conventional N-QAM system in order toimprove performance of the system in the presence of non-linearity ascompared, for example, to use of RRC filters and an N-QAM slicer.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram depicting an example equalization and sequenceestimation circuit for use in a system configured for low-complexity,highly-spectrally-efficient communications. Shown are an equalizercircuit 202, a signal combiner circuit 204, a phase adjust circuit 206,a sequence estimation circuit 210, and non-linearity modeling circuits236 a and 236 b.

The equalizer 202 may be operable to process the signal 122 to reduceISI caused by the channel 107. The output 222 of the equalizer 202 is apartial response domain signal. The ISI of the signal 222 is primarilythe result of the pulse shaper 104 and the input filter 109 (there maybe some residual ISI from multipath, for example, due to use of theleast means square (LMS) approach in the equalizer 202). The errorsignal, 201, fed back to the equalizer 202 is also in the partialresponse domain. The signal 201 is the difference, calculated bycombiner 204, between 222 and a partial response signal 203 that isoutput by non-linearity modeling circuit 236 a. An exampleimplementation of the equalizer is described in the United States patentapplication titled “Feed Forward Equalization forHighly-Spectrally-Efficient Communications,” which is incorporatedherein by reference, as set forth above.

The carrier recovery circuit 208 may be operable to generate a signal228 based on a phase difference between the signal 222 and a partialresponse signal 207 output by the non-linearity modeling circuit 236 b.The carrier recovery circuit 208 is described in greater detail hereinbelow in reference to FIGS. 4-6.

The phase adjust circuit 206 may be operable to adjust the phase of thesignal 222 to generate the signal 226. The amount and direction of thephase adjustment may be determined by the phase adjustment signal 228output by the carrier recovery circuit 208. The signal 226 is a partialresponse signal that approximates (up to an equalization error caused byfinite length of the equalizer 202, a residual phase error not correctedby the phase adjust circuit 206, non-linearities, and/or othernon-idealities) the total partial response signal resulting fromcorresponding symbols of signal 103 passing through pulse shaper 104 andinput filter 109.

The buffer 212 buffers samples of the signal 226 and outputs a pluralityof samples of the signal 226 via signal 232. The signal 232 is denotedPR1, where the underlining indicates that it is a vector (in this caseeach element of the vector corresponds to a sample of a partial responsesignal). In an example implementation, the length of the vector PR1 maybe Q samples.

Input to the sequence estimation circuit 210 are the signal 232, thesignal 228, and a response ĥ. Response ĥ is based on h (the totalpartial response, discussed above). For example, response ĥ mayrepresent a compromise between h (described above) and a filter responsethat compensates for channel non-idealities such as multi-path. Theresponse ĥ may be conveyed and/or stored in the form of LTx+LRx−1 tapcoefficients resulting from convolution of the LTx tap coefficients ofthe pulse shaper 104 and the LRx tap coefficients of the input filter109. Alternatively, response ĥ may be conveyed and/or stored in the formof fewer than LTx+LRx−1 tap coefficients—for example, where one or moretaps of the LTx and LRx is ignored due to being below a determinedthreshold. The sequence estimation circuit 210 may output partialresponse feedback signals 205 and 209, a signal 234 that corresponds tothe finely determined phase error of the signal 120, and signal 132(which carries hard and/or soft estimates of transmitted symbols and/ortransmitted bits). An example implementation of the sequence estimationcircuit 210 is described below with reference to FIG. 3.

The non-linear modeling circuit 236 a may apply a non-linearity function

(a model of the non-linearity seen by the received signal en route tothe circuit 210) to the signal 205 resulting in the signal 203.Similarly, the non-linear modeling circuit 236 b may apply thenon-linearity function

to the signal 209 resulting in the signal 207.

may be, for example, a third-order or fifth-order polynomial. Increasedaccuracy resulting from the use of a higher-order polynomial for

may tradeoff with increased complexity of implementing a higher-orderpolynomial. Where FnlTx is the dominant non-linearity of thecommunication system 100,

modeling only FnlTx may be sufficient. Where degradation in receiverperformance is above a threshold due to other non-linearities in thesystem (e.g., non-linearity of the receiver front-end 108) the model

may take into account such other non-linearities

FIG. 3 is a block diagram depicting an example sequence estimationcircuit for use in a system configured for low-complexity,highly-spectrally-efficient communications. Shown are a candidategeneration circuit 302, a metrics calculation circuit 304, a candidateselection circuit 306, a combiner circuit 308, a buffer circuit 310, abuffer circuit 312, a phase adjust circuit 314, and convolution circuits316 a and 316 b. The sequence estimation process described with respectto FIG. 3 is an example only. Many variations of the sequence estimationprocess are also possible. For example, although the implementationdescribed here uses one phase survivor per symbol survivor, anotherimplementation may have PSu (e.g., PSu<Su) phase survivors that will beused commonly for each symbol survivor.

For each symbol candidate at time n, the metrics calculation circuit 304may be operable to generate a metric vector D_(n) ¹ . . . D_(n)^(M×Su>P) based on the partial response signal PR1, the signal 303 aconveying the phase candidate vectors PC_(n) ¹ . . . PC_(n) ^(M×Su×P)and the signal 303 b conveying the symbol candidate vectors SC_(n) ¹ . .. SC^(M×Su×P), where underlining indicates a vector, subscript nindicates that it is the candidate vectors for time n, M is an integerequal to the size of the symbol alphabet (e.g., for N-QAM, M is equal toN), Su is an integer equal to the number of symbol survivor vectorsretained for each iteration of the sequence estimation process, and P isan integer equal to the size of the phase alphabet. In an exampleimplementation, the size of phase alphabet is three, with each of thethree symbols corresponding to one of: a positive shift, a negativephase shift, or zero phase shift, as further described in the UnitedStates patent application titled “Fine Phase Estimation for HighlySpectrally Efficient Communications,” which is incorporated herein byreference, as set forth above. In an example implementation, each phasecandidate vector may comprise Q phase values and each symbol candidatevector may comprise Q symbols.

The candidate selection circuit 306 may be operable to select Su of thesymbol candidates SC_(n) ¹ . . . SC^(M×Su×P) of the phase candidatesPC_(n) ¹ . . . PC^(M×Su×P) based on the metrics D_(n) ¹ . . .D^(M×su×P). The selected phase candidates are referred to as the phasesurvivors PS_(n) ¹ . . . PS_(n) ^(Su). Each element of each phasesurvivors PS_(n) ¹ . . . PS_(n) ^(Su) may correspond to an estimate ofresidual phase error in the signal 232. That is, the phase errorremaining in the signal after coarse phase error correction via thephase adjust circuit 206. The best phase survivor PS_(n) ¹ is conveyedvia signal 307 a. The Su phase survivors are retained for the nextiteration of the sequence estimation process (at which time they areconveyed via signal 301 b). The selected symbol candidates are referredto as the symbol survivors SS_(n) ¹ . . . SS_(n) ^(Su). Each element ofeach symbol survivors SS_(n) ¹ . . . SS_(n) ^(Su) may comprise asoft-decision estimate and/or a hard-decision estimate of a symbol ofthe signal 232. The best symbol survivor SS_(n) ¹ is conveyed to symbolbuffer 310 via the signal 307 b. The Su symbol survivors are retainedfor the next iteration of the sequence estimation process (at which timethey are conveyed via signal 301 a). Although, the exampleimplementation described selects the same number, Su, of phase survivorsand symbol survivors, such is not necessarily the case.

The candidate generation circuit 302 may be operable to generate phasecandidates PC_(n) ¹ . . . PC^(M×Su×P) and symbol candidates SC_(n) ¹ . .. SC^(M×Su×P) from phase survivors PS_(n−1) ¹ . . . PS_(n−1) ^(Su) andsymbol survivors SS_(n−1) ¹ . . . SS_(n−1) ^(Su), wherein the index n−1indicates that they are survivors from time n−1 are used for generatingthe candidates for time n. In an example implementation, generation ofthe phase and/or symbol candidates may be as, for example, described inthe United States patent application titled “Joint Sequence Estimationof Symbol and Phase with High Tolerance of Nonlinearity,” which isincorporated herein by reference, as set forth above.

The symbol buffer circuit 310 may comprise a plurality of memoryelements operable to store one or more symbol survivor elements of oneor more symbol survivor vectors. The phase buffer circuit 312 maycomprise a plurality of memory elements operable to store one or morephase survivor vectors.

The combiner circuit 308 may be operable to combine the best phasesurvivor, PS_(n) ¹, conveyed via signal 307 a, with the signal 228generated by the carrier recovery circuit 208 (FIG. 2) to generate finephase error vector FPE_(n) ¹, conveyed via signal 309, which correspondsto the finely estimated phase error of the signal 222 (FIG. 2). At eachtime n, fine phase error vector FPE_(n−1) ¹ stored in phase buffer 312may be overwritten by FPE_(m) ¹.

The phase adjust circuit 314 may be operable to adjust the phase of thesignal 315 a by an amount determined by the signal 234 output by phasebuffer 312, to generate the signal 205.

The circuit 316 a, which performs a convolution, may comprise a FIRfilter or IIR filter, for example. The circuit 316 a may be operable toconvolve the signal 132 with response ĥ, resulting in the partialresponse signal 315 a. Similarly, the convolution circuit 316 b may beoperable to convolve the signal 317 with response ĥ, resulting in theconvolved partial response signal 209. As noted above, response ĥ may bestored by, and/or conveyed to, the sequence estimation circuit 210 inthe form of one or more tap coefficients, which may be determined basedon the tap coefficients of the pulse shaper 104 and/or input filter 109and/or based on an adaptation algorithm of a decision feedback equalizer(DFE). Response ĥ may thus represent a compromise between attempting toperfectly reconstruct the total partial response signal (103 as modifiedby pulse shaper 104 and input filter 109) on the one hand, andcompensating for multipath and/or other non-idealities of the channel107 on the other hand. In this regard, the system 100 may comprise oneor more DFEs as described in one or more of: the United States patentapplication titled “Decision Feedback Equalizer forHighly-Spectrally-Efficient Communications,” the United States patentapplication titled “Decision Feedback Equalizer with Multiple Cores forHighly-Spectrally-Efficient Communications,” and the United Statespatent application titled “Decision Feedback Equalizer Utilizing SymbolError Rate Biased Adaptation Function for Highly-Spectrally-EfficientCommunications,” each of which is incorporated herein by reference, asset forth above.

Thus, signal 203 is generated by taking a first estimate of transmittedsymbols, (an element of symbol survivor SS_(n) ¹), converting the firstestimate of transmitted symbols to the partial response domain viacircuit 316 a, and then compensating for non-linearity in thecommunication system 100 via circuit 236 a (FIG. 2). Similarly, signal207 is generated from a second estimate of transmitted symbols (anelement of symbol survivor SS_(n) ¹) that is converted to the partialresponse domain by circuit 316 b to generate signal 209, and thenapplying a non-linear model to the signal 209 b to compensate fornon-linearity in the signal path.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating an example carrier recoverycircuit for use in a system configured for low-complexity,highly-spectrally-efficient communications. Referring to FIG. 4, thereis illustrated a more detailed diagram of the carrier recovery circuit208, which may comprise a phase detector circuit 402, a loop filter 404,a rotating function module 406, a conjugate function module 408 and amultiplier 410.

The phase detector circuit 402 may comprise suitable circuitry, logicand/or code and may be operable to generate a phase error signal (e.g.,signal 414) based on a phase difference between at least two signals(e.g., the equalized partial response signal 222 and a rotated version(e.g., 412) of the partial response feedback signal (e.g., 207)).

The loop filter 404 may comprise suitable circuitry, logic and/or codeand may be operable to filter the phase error signal (e.g., 414) togenerate a filtered phase adjustment signal (e.g., 416). In an exampleimplementation, the loop filter 404 may comprise a 2^(nd)-order loop,which may be operable to track frequency errors with zero steady stateerror. A bandwidth of the loop may be determined by the depth (e.g.,configured via a parameter Q) of the symbol buffer 310 (e.g., configuredvia parameter Q), and/or an index of the symbol buffer 310 from whichthe signal 317 is output (e.g., configured via a parameter q1).

In an example embodiment, the loop filter 404 may comprise aproportional-integral-derivative (PID) controller and one or more of theintegral gain (Ki), derivative gain (Kd), and proportional gain (Kp),may be set dynamically according to, for example, SNR, phase noiselevels, metric values calculated by the sequence estimation circuit 112(e.g., individual values or the slope of values calculated over time)and/or any other suitable indicator of performance and/or channelconditions. Similarly, other parameters affecting loop bandwidth (e.g.,Q and q3 described in the United States patent application titled“Low-Complexity, Highly-Spectrally-Efficient Communications,” which isincorporated herein by reference, as set forth above, may be dynamicallyconfigured during run-time. In an example implementation, dynamicadjustment of one or more parameters may be enabled and disabled basedon any suitable indicator of performance and/or channel conditions suchas, for example, SNR, phase noise levels, metric values calculated bythe sequence estimation circuit 112 (e.g., individual values or theslope of values calculated over time), and/or the strength or varianceof signal 414. For example, dynamic adjustment of Kp and/or Kd may bedisabled (and Kp and Kd may be forced to zero), during error bursts whensymbol errors are detected in the receiver, or in case that qualityindicators for the estimated symbols are implying low reliability ofcertain symbols. Dynamic adjustment of Kp and/or Kd may resume (and Kpand Kd may return to normal values), upon the symbol error burststermination, or if quality indicators for the estimated symbols areimplying for good detected symbols reliability.

The rotating function module 406 may comprise suitable circuitry, logicand/or code and may be operable to apply a rotating function to thefiltered phase adjustment signal 416 to generate the phase adjustmentsignal 228. The rotating function (e.g., 406) may comprise, for example,an exponential function, such as exp(j*x)=cos(x)+j*sin(x). In thisregard, the rotating function block 406 may be operable to generates acomplex waveform (exp(j*x)=cos(x)+j sin(x)), and may rotate thatwaveform by a phase output value (e.g., 416), resulting in a complexwaveform (e.g., signal 228) having the phase shift corresponding to thephase output value.

The conjugate function module 408 may comprise suitable circuitry, logicand/or code and may be operable to output the complex conjugate of phaseadjustment signal 228 as conjugate output signal 409. More specifically,the conjugate function module 408 may be operable to output, as signal409, the real part of the complex waveform of signal 228 plus thenegative of the imaginary part of signal 228.

The multiplier 410 may comprise suitable circuitry, logic and/or codeand may be operable to generate the rotated version 412 of the partialresponse feedback signal 207 by multiplying the conjugate output signal409 with the partial response feedback signal 207.

In operation, the phase detector 402 may generate the phase error signal414 based on a phase difference between the equalized partial responsesignal 222 and the rotated version (e.g., signal 412) of the partialresponse feedback signal 207. The phase error signal 414 may be filteredby the loop filter 404 to generate the filtered phase adjustment signal416, which may then be processed by the rotating function module 406 togenerate the phase adjustment signal 228. The phase adjustment signal228 may be communicated to the conjugate function module 408 forpurposes of generating the rotated version (412) of the partial responsefeedback signal 207, as well as to the phase adjust circuit 206 forpurposes of adjusting the phase of the equalized partial response signal222 and generating the phase adjusted partial response signal 226.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram illustrating an example phase detectorcircuit, which may be used during carrier recovery in a systemconfigured for low-complexity, highly-spectrally-efficientcommunications. Referring to FIG. 5, the phase detector circuit 402 maycomprise a conjugate function module 502, an angle function module 504,and a multiplier 506.

The conjugate function module 502 may comprise suitable circuitry, logicand/or code and may be operable to output the complex conjugate of theequalized partial response signal 222 as conjugate output signal 508.The conjugate output signal 508 may be multiplied with the rotatedversion (412) of the partial response feedback signal 207, to generatethe multiplied signal 510.

The angle function module 504 may comprise suitable circuitry, logicand/or code and may be operable to output the phase angle of themultiplied signal 510 as the phase error signal (e.g., 414).

FIG. 6 is a flow diagram of an example method for signal processing in areceiver for use in a system configured for low-complexity,highly-spectrally-efficient communications. Referring to FIGS. 4-6, theexample method 600 may start at 602, when the equalizer 202 may equalizea received partial response signal (e.g., 122) to generate an equalizedpartial response signal (e.g., 222). At 604, the carrier recovery block208 may generate a phase adjustment signal (e.g., 228) based on apartial response feedback signal (e.g., 207). The partial responsefeedback signal may be generated using a sequence estimation process(performed by, e.g., the sequence estimation block 210) and anon-linearity function (performed by, e.g., the non-linearity modelingcircuit 236 b). At 606, the phase adjust circuit 206 may adjust a phaseof the equalized partial response signal (e.g., 222) using the generatedphase adjustment signal, to generate a phase adjusted partial responsesignal (e.g., 226).

The phase adjustment signal (e.g., 228) may be generated (e.g., by thecarrier recovery circuit 208) based on a phase difference between theequalized partial response signal (e.g., 222) and the partial responsefeedback signal (e.g., 207).

At least one partial response vector (e.g., 232) may be generated bybuffering (e.g., buffer 212) samples of the phase adjusted partialresponse signal (e.g., 226). Over multiple iterations of the sequenceestimation process in the sequence estimation circuit 210, a sequence ofestimated symbols (e.g., a sequence of estimated symbols output viasignal 315 b) may be generated based on the at least one partialresponse vector (e.g., 232). The sequence of estimated symbols may beconvolved (e.g., by convolution circuit 316 b) with at least one tapcoefficient to generate a convolved partial response signal (e.g., 209).The at least one tap coefficient may include at least one tapcoefficient of a partial response filter.

The partial response feedback signal (e.g., 207) may be generated byapplying the non-linearity function (e.g., 236 b) to the convolvedpartial response signal (e.g., 209). The generating of the phaseadjustment signal (e.g., 228) may include generating a phase errorsignal (e.g., 414) corresponding to a phase difference between a rotatedversion (e.g., 412) of the partial response feedback signal and theequalized partial response signal (e.g., 222). The partial responsefeedback signal (e.g., 207) may be rotated (e.g., by multiplier 410)based on the phase error signal (e.g., 414), to generate the rotatedversion (e.g., 412) of the partial response feedback signal. The loopfilter 404 may filter the phase error signal (e.g., 414) to generate thephase adjustment signal (e.g., 416 and then 228). One or more parameters(e.g., Q, q1, q2, and/or q3, as explained herein above) that controlbandwidth of a feedback loop of the filter 404 may be dynamicallyadjusted. In addition, a gain of the feedback loop of the filter 404 mayalso be dynamically adjusted.

Other implementations may provide a non-transitory computer readablemedium and/or storage medium, and/or a non-transitory machine readablemedium and/or storage medium, having stored thereon, a machine codeand/or a computer program having at least one code section executable bya machine and/or a computer, thereby causing the machine and/or computerto perform one or more of the processes/methods described herein.

Methods and systems disclosed herein may be realized in hardware,software, or a combination of hardware and software. Methods and systemsdisclosed herein may be realized in a centralized fashion in at leastone computing system, or in a distributed fashion where differentelements are spread across several interconnected computing systems. Anykind of computing system or other apparatus adapted for carrying out themethods described herein is suited. A typical combination of hardwareand software may be a general-purpose computing system with a program orother code that, when being loaded and executed, controls the computingsystem such that it carries out methods described herein. Anothertypical implementation may comprise an application specific integratedcircuit (ASIC) or chip with a program or other code that, when beingloaded and executed, controls the ASIC such that is carries out methodsdescribed herein.

While methods and systems have been described herein with reference tocertain implementations, it will be understood by those skilled in theart that various changes may be made and equivalents may be substitutedwithout departing from the scope of the present method and/or system. Inaddition, many modifications may be made to adapt a particular situationor material to the teachings of the present disclosure without departingfrom its scope. Therefore, it is intended that the present method and/orsystem not be limited to the particular implementations disclosed, butthat the present method and/or system will include all implementationsfalling within the scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method, comprising: in a receiver: equalizing areceived inter-symbol correlated (ISC) signal to generate an equalizedISC signal; generating a phase adjustment signal based on an ISCfeedback signal, said ISC feedback signal generated using a sequenceestimation process and a non-linearity function; adjusting a phase ofsaid equalized ISC signal using said generated phase adjustment signal,to generate a phase adjusted ISC signal; and generating at least one ISCvector by buffering samples of said phase adjusted ISC signal, whereinsaid sequence estimation process comprises: generating a sequence ofestimated symbols based on said at least one ISC vector; convolving saidsequence of estimated symbols with at least one tap coefficient togenerate a convolved ISC signal; and generating said ISC feedback signalby applying said non-linearity function to said convolved ISC signal. 2.The method according to claim 1, comprising: generating said phaseadjustment signal based on a phase difference between said equalized ISCsignal and said ISC feedback signal.
 3. The method according to claim 1,wherein said at least one tap coefficient comprises at least one tapcoefficient of a filter.
 4. The method according to claim 1, whereinsaid generating of said phase adjustment signal comprises: generating aphase error signal corresponding to a phase difference between a rotatedversion of said ISC feedback signal and said equalized ISC signal. 5.The method according to claim 4, comprising: rotating said ISC feedbacksignal based on said phase error signal, to generate said rotatedversion of said ISC feedback signal.
 6. The method according to claim 4,comprising: filtering using at least one feedback loop, said phase errorsignal to generate said phase adjustment signal.
 7. The method accordingto claim 6, comprising: dynamically adjusting parameters that controlbandwidth and/or gain of said at least one feedback loop.
 8. The methodaccording to claim 1, wherein the received ISC signal is a partialresponse signal generated via a partial response filter.
 9. A system,comprising: circuitry that includes an equalization circuit, a phaseadjustment circuit, a sequence estimation circuit, a non-linearitymodeling circuit, and a carrier recovery circuit, wherein: saidcircuitry is operable to equalize a received inter-symbol correlated(ISC) signal to generate an equalized ISC signal; said circuitry isoperable to generate a phase adjustment signal based on an ISC feedbacksignal, said ISC feedback signal generated using a sequence estimationprocess and a non-linearity function; said circuitry is operable toadjust a phase of said equalized ISC signal using said generated phaseadjustment signal, to generate a phase adjusted ISC signal; and saidcircuitry is operable to generate at least one ISC vector by bufferingsamples of said phase adjusted ISC signal, wherein during said sequenceestimation process, said circuitry is operable to: generate a sequenceof estimated symbols based on said at least one ISC vector; and convolvesaid sequence of estimated symbols with at least one tap coefficient togenerate a convolved ISC signal.
 10. The system according to claim 9,wherein said circuitry is operable to generate said phase adjustmentsignal based on a phase difference between said equalized ISC signal andsaid ISC feedback signal.
 11. The system according to claim 9, whereinsaid at least one tap coefficient comprises at least one tap coefficientof a filter.
 12. The system according to claim 9, wherein said circuitryis operable to generate said ISC feedback signal by applying saidnon-linearity function to said convolved ISC signal.
 13. The systemaccording to claim 9, wherein during said generating of said phaseadjustment signal, said circuitry is operable to generate a phase errorsignal corresponding to a phase difference between a rotated version ofsaid ISC feedback signal and said equalized ISC signal.
 14. The systemaccording to claim 13, wherein said circuitry is operable to rotate saidISC feedback signal based on said phase error signal, to generate saidrotated version of said ISC feedback signal.
 15. The system according toclaim 13, wherein the received ISC signal is a partial response signalgenerated via a partial response filter.
 16. A receiver, comprising: asequence estimation circuit that operates to generate a convolvedinter-symbol correlated (ISC) signal based on a sequence estimationprocess that comprises: generation of a sequence of estimated symbolsbased on at least one ISC vector generated by buffering samples of aphase adjusted ISC signal; and convolution of said sequence of estimatedsymbols with at least one tap coefficient to generate said convolved ISCsignal; a non-linearity modeling circuit that operates to generate anISC feedback signal by applying a non-linearity function to saidconvolved ISC signal; and a carrier recovery circuit that operates basedon said ISC feedback signal.
 17. The receiver of claim 16, comprising:an equalizer; and a phase adjustment circuit, wherein: an output of saidequalizer circuit is input to said carrier recovery circuit and to saidphase adjustment circuit; an output of said carrier recovery circuit isinput to said phase adjustment circuit; and an output of said phaseadjustment circuit is a phase adjusted version of said output of saidequalizer circuit.